Being the seventh under the Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IV., celebrated on the
fifteenth day of July, MDLXIII.

THE TRUE AND CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, TOUCHING THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER, DECREED
AND PUBLISHED BY THE HOLY SYNOD OF TRENT, IN THE SEVENTH SESSION, IN
CONDEMNATION OF THE ERRORS OF OUR TIME.

CHAPTER I.
On the institution of the Priesthood of the New Law.

Sacrifice and priesthood are, by the ordinance of God, in such wise
conjoined, as that both have existed in every law. [Page 171] Whereas, therefore, in
the New Testament, the Catholic Church has received, from the institution
of Christ, the holy visible sacrifice of the Eucharist; it must needs also
be confessed, that there is, in that Church, a new, visible, and external
priesthood, into which the old has been translated. And the sacred
Scriptures show, and the tradition of the Catholic Church has always
taught, that this priesthood was instituted by the same Lord our Saviour,
and that to the apostles, and their successors in the priesthood, was the
power delivered of consecrating, offering, and administering His Body and
Blood, as also of forgiving
and of retaining sins.

CHAPTER II.
On the Seven Orders.

And whereas the ministry of so holy a priesthood is a divine thing; to the
end that it might be exercised in a more worthy manner, and with greater
veneration, it was suitable that, in the most well-ordered settlement of
the church, there should be several and diverse orders of ministers, to
minister to the priesthood, by virtue of their office; orders so
distributed as that those already marked with the clerical tonsure should
ascend through the lesser to the greater orders. For the sacred Scriptures
make open mention not only of priests, but also of deacons; and teach, in
words the most weighty, what things are especially to be attended to in the
Ordination thereof; and, from the very beginning of the church, the names
of the following orders, and the ministrations proper to each one of them,
are known to have been in use; to wit those of subdeacon, acolyth,
exorcist, lector, and door-keeper; though these were not of equal rank: for
the subdeavonship is classed amongst the greater orders by the Fathers and
sacred Councils, wherein also we very often read of the other inferior
orders.

[Page 172]

CHAPTER III.
That Order is truly and properly a Sacrament.

Whereas, by the testimony of Scripture, by Apostolic tradition, and the
unanimous consent of the Fathers, it is clear that grace is conferred by
sacred ordination, which is performed by words and outward signs, no one
ought to doubt that Order is truly and properly one of the seven sacraments
of holy Church. For the apostle says; I admonish thee that thou stir up
the grace of God, which is in thee by the imposition of my hands. For God
has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love of sobriety.

CHAPTER IV
On the Ecclesiastical hierarchy, and on Ordination.

But, forasmuch as in the sacrament of Order, as also in Baptism and
Confirmation, a character is imprinted, which can neither be effaced nor
taken away; the holy Synod with reason condemns the opinion of those, who
assert that the priests of the New Testament have only a temporary power;
and that those who have once been rightly ordained, can again become
laymen, if they do not exercise the ministry of the word of God. And if
any one affirm, that all Christians indiscrimately are priests of the New
Testament, or that they are all mutually endowed with an equal spiritual
power, he clearly does nothing but confound the ecclesiastical hierarchy,
which is as an army set in array; as if, contrary to the doctrine of
blessed Paul, all were apostles, all prophets, all evangelists, all
pastors, all doctors. Wherefore, the holy Synod declares that, besides [Page 173] the
other ecclesiastical degrees, bishops, who have succeeded to the place of
the apostles, principally belong to this hierarchial order; that they are
placed, as the same apostle says, by the Holy Ghost, to rule the Church of
God; that they are superior to priests; administer the sacrament of
Confirmation; ordain the ministers of the Church; and that they can perform
very many other things; over which functions others of an inferior order
have no power. Furthermore, the sacred and holy Synod teaches, that, in
the ordination of bishops, priests, and of the other orders, neither the
consent, nor vocation, nor authority, whether of the people, or of any
civil power or magistrate whatsoever, is required in such wise as that,
without this, the ordination is invalid: yea rather doth It decree, that
all those who, being only called and instituted by the people, or by the
civil power and magistrate, ascend to the exercise of these ministrations,
and those who of their own rashness assume them to themselves, are not
ministers of the church, but are to be looked upon as thieves and robbers,
who have not entered by the door. These are the things which it hath
seemed good to the sacred Synod to teach the faithful in Christ, in general
terms, touching the sacrament of Order. But It hath resolved to condemn
whatsoever things are contrary thereunto, in express and specific canons,
in the manner following; in order that all men, with the help of Christ,
using the rule of faith, may, in the midst of the darkness of so many
errors, more easily be able to recognise and to hold Catholic truth.

ON THE SACRAMENT OF ORDER.

CANON I.--If any one saith, that there is not in the New Testament a
visible and external priesthood; or that there is not any power of
consecrating and offering the true body and blood of the Lord, and of
forgiving and retaining sins; but only an office and bare ministry of
preaching the Gospel, or, that those who do not preach are not priests at
all; let him be anathema.

[Page 174]
CANON II.--If any one saith, that, besides the priesthood, there are not in
the Catholic Church other orders, both greater and minor, by which, as by
certain steps, advance is made unto the priesthood; let him be anathema.

CANON III.--If any one saith, that order, or sacred ordination, is not
truly and properly a sacrament instituted by Christ the Lord; or, that it
is a kind of human figment devised by men unskilled in ecclesiastical
matters; or, that it is only a kind of rite for choosing ministers of the
word of God and of the sacraments; let him be anathema.

CANON IV.--If any one saith, that, by sacred ordination, the Holy Ghost is
not given; and that vainly therefore do the bishops say, Receive ye the
Holy Ghost; or, that a character is not imprinted by that ordination; or,
that he who has once been a priest, can again become a layman; let him be
anathema.

CANON V.--If any one saith, that the sacred unction which the Church uses
in holy ordination, is not only not required, but is to be despised and is
pernicious, as likewise are the other ceremonies of Order; let him be
anathema.

CANON VI.--If any one saith, that, in the Catholic Church there is not a
hierarchy by divine ordination instituted, consisting of bishops, priests,
and ministers; let him be anathema.

CANON VII.--If any one saith, that bishops are not superior to priests; or,
that they have not the power of confirming and ordaining; or, that the
power which they possess is common to them and to priests; or, that orders,
conferred by them, without the consent, or vocation of the people, or of
the secular power, are invalid; or, that those who have neither been
rightly
ordained, nor sent, by ecclesiastical and canonical power, but come from
elsewhere, are lawful ministers of the word and of the sacraments; let him
be anathema.

CANON VIII.--If any one saith, that the bishops, who are assumed by
authority of the Roman Pontiff, are not legitimate and true bishops, but
are a human figment; let him be anathema.

DECREE ON REFORMATION

The same sacred and holy Synod of Trent, prosecuting the matter of
reformation, resolves and decrees that the things following be at present
ordained.

CHAPTER I.
The negligence of Pastors of Churches in residing is variously punished:
provision is made for the cure of souls.

Whereas it is by divine precept enjoined on all, to whom the cure of souls
is committed, to know their own sheep; to offer sacrifice for them; and, by
the preaching of the divine word, by the administration of the sacraments,
and by the example of all good works, to feed them; to have a fatherly care
of the poor and of other distressed persons, and to apply themselves to all
other pastoral duties; all which (offices) cannot be rendered and fulfilled
by those who neither watch over nor are with their own flock, but abandon
it after the manner of hirelings; the sacred and holy Synod admonishes and
exhorts such, that mindful of the divine precepts, and made a pattern of
the flock, they feed and rule in judgment and in truth. And for fear lest
those things which have been already elsewhere holily and usefully
ordained, concerning residence, under Paul III., of happy memory, may be
wrested to a meaning alien from the mind of the sacred and holy Synod, as
if by virtue of that decree it were lawful to be absent during five
continuous months; the sacred and holy Synod, adhering to those decrees,
declares, that all persons who are--under whatsoever name and title, even
though they be cardinals of the holy Roman Church--set over any
patriarchal, primatial, metropolitan, and cathe-[Page 176]dral churches whatsoever,
are obliged to personal residence in their own church, or diocese, where
they shall be bound to discharge the office enjoined them; and may not be
absent thence, save for the causes and in the manner subjoined. For
whereas Christian charity, urgent necessity, due obedience, and the evident
utility of the Church, or of the commonwealth, require and demand that some
at times be absent, this same sacred and holy Synod ordains, that these
causes of lawful absence are to be approved of in writing by the most
blessed Roman Pontiff, or by the metropolitan, or, in his absence, by the
oldest resident suffragan bishop, whose duty it shall also be to approve of
the absence of the metropolitan; except when such absence happens in
consequence of some employment and office in the state attached to the
bishoprics; the causes of which absence being notorious, and at times
sudden, it will not be necessary even to notify them to the metropolitan;
to whom it shall however belong, conjointly with the provincial Council, to
judge of the permissions granted by himself, or by his suffragan, and to
see that no one abuse that right, and that transgressors are punished with
the penalties adjudged by the canons. Meanwhile let those about to depart
remember to provide in such sort for their sheep, as that, as far as
possible, they may not suffer any injury through their absence. But,
forasmuch as those who are only absent for a short period, are, in the
sense of the ancient canons, not supposed to be absent, for that they are
about to return immediately; the sacred and holy Synod wills, that that
term of absence, whether continuous or interrupted, ought not by any means
to exceed two, or at most three, months; except for the causes above named;
and that regard be had that it be done from a just cause, and without any
detriment to the flock: which, whether it be the case, the Synod leaves to
the conscience of those who withdraw themselves which It hopes will be
religious and timorous; seeing that their hearts are open before God, whose
work they are bound, at their periol, not to do deceitfully. In the
meantime It [Page 177] admonishes and exhorts them in the Lord, that unless their
episcopal duties call them to some other part of their own diocese, they on
no account be absent from their own cathedral church during the period of
the Advent of the Lord, and of Lent, on the days of the Nativity, of the
Lord's Resurrection, of Pentecost, and of Corpus Christi, on which days
especially the sheep ought to be refreshed, and to rejoice in the Lord at
the presence of the Shepherd.

But if any one, which it is hoped will never happen, shall be absent,
contrary to the regulation of this decree, the sacred and holy Synod
ordains, that, in addition to the other penalties imposed upon and renewed
against non-residents, under Paul III., and the guilt of mortal sin which
such an one incurs, he acquires no property in any fruits, in proportion to
the time of his absence, and that he cannot, even though no other
declaration but this follow, retain them as his with a safe conscience; but
is bound, or, in his default, his ecclesiastical superior for him, to apply
them to the fabric of the churches, or to the poor of the place; every kind
of agreement, or composition as it is called, in regard of ill-gotten
fruits, being prohibited, whereby the aforesaid fruits even might be
wholly, or in part, restored to him; any privileges whatsoever, granted to
any college or fabric, to the contrary notwithstanding.

The same also, both as regards the guilt, the loss of fruits, and the
penalties, does the sacred and holy Synod wholly declare and decree, in
regard of inferior pastors, and all others whomsoever who hold any
ecclesiastical benefice having cure of souls; in such wise, however, as
that, whensoever it shall happen that they are absent, for a cause that has
been first made known to, and been approved of by, the bishop, they shall
leave, with a due allowance of stipend, a suitable vicar, to be approved of
by the Ordinary. And they shall not obtain permission to be absent,--which
is to be granted in writing and gratuitously,--for a larger period than two
months, except for some weighty cause; and if, after having been cited,
even though not per-[Page 178]sonally, by an edict, they shall be contumacious, the
Synod wills, that it be in the power of the Ordinaries to constrain them by
ecclesiastical censures, and by the sequestration and substraction of
fruits, and by other legal remedies, even as far as deprivation; and that
the execution hereof shall not be able to be suspended by any manner of
privilege soever, license, claim as a domestic, exemption,--though even
upon the ground of any manner of benefice,--by any compact, or
statute,--even though confirmed by oath or by what authority soever,--by
any custom, even though immemorial, which herein is to be looked upon
rather as a corruption, or by any appeal, or inhibition, even in the Roman
Court, or by virtue of the constitution of Eugenius. Finally, the holy
Synod commands, that both the decree under Paul III., and this present,
shall be published in the provincial and episcopal councils; for It desires
that things so nearly concerning the office of pastors, and the salvation
of souls, be frequently impressed on the minds and ears of all men, that
so, with God's help, they may never hereafter be abolished through the
injury of time, the forgetfulness of men, or by desuetude.

CHAPTER II.
Those set over Churches shall receive the rite of consecration within three
months; where the consecration is to take place.

Those who,--under whatsoever name or title, even though they be cardinals
of the holy Roman Church,--have been set over cathedral, or superior,
churches, if they shall not, within three months, have received the rite of
consecration, shall be bound to restore the fruits which they have
received; if they shall have neglected to do this within three other months
afterwards, they shall be ipso jure deprived of their churches. And their
consecration, if performed out of the Court of Rome, shall be celebrated in
the church to which they have been promoted, or in the province, if it can
be conveniently done.

[Page 179]

CHAPTER III.
Bishops, except in case of illness, shall confer Order in person.

Bishops shall themselves confer orders; but, should they be prevented by
illness, they shall not send their subjects to another bishop for
ordination, unless they have been already approved of and examined.

CHAPTER IV
Who are to be initiated by the first tonsure.

None shall be initiated by the first tonsure, who have not received the
sacrament of Confirmation; and who have not been taught the rudiments of
the faith; and who do not know how to read and write; and in whose regard
there is not a probable conjecture, that they have chosen this manner of
life, that they may render unto God a faithful service, and not that they
may fraudulently withdraw themselves from Secular jurisdiction.

CHAPTER V
Wherewith those who are to be ordained are to be furnished.

Those who are to be promoted to minor orders shall have a good testimonial
from their parish priest; and from the master of the school in which they
are educated. As to those who are to be raised to any one of the greater
orders, they shall, a month before ordination, repair to the bishop, who
shall commission the parish priest, or such other person as may be deemed
more expedient, to state publicly in the church the names and the desire of
those who wish to be promoted; and to diligently inform himself, from
persons worthy of credit, of the birth, age, morals, and life [Page 180] of those
who are to be ordained, and shall transmit to the bishop himself, as soon
as possible, letters testimonial containing the actual inquiry that has
been made.

CHAPTER VI
The age of fourteen years is required for an ecclesiastical benfice; who is
to enjoy the privilege of the (ecclesiastical) court.

No one, after being initiated by the first tonsure, or even after being
constituted in minor orders, shall be able to hold a benefice before his
fourteenth year. Further, he shall not enjoy the privilege of the
(ecclesiastical) court, unless he have an ecclesiastical benefice; or,
wearing the ecclesiastical dress and tonsure, he serves in some church by
the bishop's order, or lives with the bishop's permission in an
ecclesiastical seminary, or in some school, or university, on the way as it
were to receive the greater orders. As regards married clerks, the
constitution of Boniface VIII., which begins, clerici qui cum unicis, shall
be observed; provided the said clerks, being deputed by the bishop to the
service or ministry of some church, serve and minister therein, and wear
the clerical dress and tonsure: no privilege, or custom, even immemorial,
availing any one herein.

CHAPTER VII.
Those to be ordained are to be examined by persons versed in divine and
human laws.

The holy Synod, adhering to the traces of the ancient canons, ordains, that
when a bishop has arranged to hold an ordination, all who may wish to be
received into the sacred ministry shall be summoned to the city, for the
Thursday before the said ordination, or for such other day as the bishop
shall think fit. [Page 181] And the bishop, calling to his assistance priests and
other prudent persons, well skilled in the divine law, and of experience in
the constitutions of the church, shall diligently investigate and examine
the parentage, person, age, education, morals, learning, and faith of those
who are to be ordained.

CHAPTER VIII.
How, and by whom, each ought to be ordained.

Ordinations of sacred orders shall be celebrated publicly, at the time
appointed by law, and in the cathedral churches, in the presence of the
canons of that church, who are to be invited for that purpose; but, if they
are celebrated in some other place of the diocese, in the presence of the
clergy of the place; the principal church being always, as far as possible,
made use of. But each one shall be ordained by his own bishop. And if any
one ask to be promoted by another bishop, this shall by no means be allowed
him, even under the pretext of any general or special rescript or privilege
whatsoever, even at the appointed times; unless his probity and morals be
recommended by the testimony of his own Ordinary; otherwise, he who ordains
him shall be suspended from conferring orders during a year, and he who has
been ordained shall be suspended from exercising the orders which he has
received, for as long a period as shall seem expedient to his own Ordinary.

CHAPTER IX.
A bishop ordaining one of his own household, shall at once and really
confer upon him a benefice.

A bishop may not ordain one of his household, who is not his subject,
unless he has lived with him for the space of [Page 182] three years; and he shall
really, and without fraud of any kind, at once confer on him a benefice;
any custom, even though immemorial, to the contrary notwithstanding.

CHAPTER X.
Prelates inferior to bishops shall not give the tonsure, or minor orders,
save to Regulars their own subjects; neither shall they, nor any Chapters
whatsoever, grant dimissory letters; a more grievous penalty is enacted
against those who offend against this decree.

It shall not henceforth be lawful for abbots, or for any other persons
whatsoever, howsoever exempted, being within the limits of any diocese,
even though they be said to be of no diocese, or to be exempted, to confer
the tonsure, or minor orders on any one who is not a Regular subject to
them; nor shall the said abbots, and other exempted persons, or any
colleges, or Chapters whatsoever, even those of cathedral churches, grant
letters dimissory to any Secular clerics to be ordained by others. But the
ordination of all these persons shall appertain to the bishops within the
limits of whose diocese they are, all things considered in the decrees of
this holy Synod being observed; any privilege, prescriptions, or customs,
even though immemorial, notwithstanding. And the Synod ordains, that the
penalty imposed on those, who, contrary to the decree of this holy Synod
under Paul III., obtain, during the vacancy of the episcopal See, letters
dimissory from the Chapter, be also extended to those who shall obtain the
said letters, not from the Chapter, but from any other persons whatsoever,
who, during the vacancy of the See, succeed to the jurisdiction of the
bishop, in lieu of the Chapter. And they who give dimissory letters,
contrary to the form of this decree, shall be ipso jure suspended during a
year from their office and benefice.

[Page 183]

CHAPTER XI.
The interstices, and certain other regulations, to be observed in receiving
minor orders.

The minor orders shall not be given but to such as understand the Latin
language at least, observing the appointed interstices of time, unless the
bishop shall think it more expedient to act otherwise; that so they may be
the more accurately taught how great is the obligation of this their state
of life; and may exercise themselves in each office, agreeably to the
appointment of the bishop; and this in the church to which they shall be
assigned, unless they happen to be absent on account of their studies; and
may thus ascend step by step: that so with their increasing age they may
grow in worthiness of life and in learning; of which they will give proof
especially by the example of their good conduct, by their assiduous service
in the church, their greater reverence towards priests and the superior
orders, and by a more frequent communion than heretofore of the Body of
Christ. And whereas from these orders is the entrance unto higher orders
and to the most sacred mysteries, no one shall be admitted thereunto, whom
the promise of knowledge does not point out as worthy of the greater
orders. And such shall not be promoted to sacred orders till a year after
the reception of the last degree of minor orders; unless necessity, or the
utility of the church, in the bishop's judgment, shall require otherwise.

CHAPTER XII.
Age required for the major orders; the deserving only to be admitted.

No one shall for the future be promoted to the order of subdeaconship
before the twenty-second year of age; to that [Page 184] of deaconship before his
twenty-third year; to that of priesthood before his twenty-fifth year.
Nevertheless, bishops are to know, that not all who have attained to that
age must needs be admitted to the aforesaid orders, but those only who are
worthy, and whose commendable life is an old age. Regulars likewise shall
not be ordained under the above age, nor without a diligent examination by
the bishop; all privileges whatsoever in this regard being completely set
aside.

CHAPTER XIII.
On the conditions required in the Ordination of a Subdeacon and Deacon: on
no one shall two sacred Orders be conferred on the same day.

Such as have a good testimonial, and have been already tried in minor
orders, and are instructed in letters, and in those things which belong to
the exercise of their orders, shall be ordained subdeacons and deacons.
They shall have a hope, with God's help, to be able to live continently;
they shall serve in the churches to which they may be assigned; and are to
know that it is very highly becoming that, after ministering at the altar,
they should receive the sacred communion, at least on the Lord's days and
solemnities. Those who have been promoted to the sacred order of the
subdeaconship shall not, until they have remained therein during at least a
year, be permitted to ascend to a higher degree, unless the bishop shall
judge otherwise. Two sacred orders shall not be conferred on the same day,
even upon Regulars; any privileges and indults whatsoever, to whomsoever
granted, to the contrary notwithstanding.

CHAPTER XIV.
Who are to be raised to the Priesthood: their office.

Those who have conducted themselves piously and faithfully in their
precedent functions, and are promoted to the order of [Page 185] priesthood, shall
have a good testimonial, and be persons who not only have served in their
office of deacon during at least an entire year,--unless for the utility and
the necessity of the Church, the bishop should judge otherwise,--but who
have also been approved to be, by a careful previous examination, capable
of teaching the people those things which it is necessary for all to know
unto salvation, as also fit to administer the sacraments; and so
conspicuous for piety and chasteness of morals, as that a shining example
of good works and a lesson how to live may be expected from them. The
bishop shall take care that they celebrate mass at least on the Lord's
Days, and on solemn festivals; but, if they have the cure of souls, so
often as to satisfy their obligation. The bishop may, for a lawful cause,
grant a dispensation to those who have been promoted per saltum, provided
they have not exercised the ministry (of that order).

CHAPTER XV.
No one shall hear confessions, unless he be approved of by the Ordinary.

Although priests receive in their ordination the power of absolving from
sins; nevertheless, the holy Synod ordains, that no one, even though he be
a Regular, is able to hear the confessions of Seculars, not even of
priests, and that he is not to be reputed fit thereunto, unless he either
holds a parochial benefice, or is, by the bishops, after an examination if
they shall think it necessary, or in some other manner, judged capable; and
has obtained their approval, which shall be granted gratuitously; any
privileges, and custom whatsoever, though immemorial, to the contrary
notwithstanding.

[Page 186]

CHAPTER XVI.
Those who are ordained shall be assigned to a particular church.

Whereas no one ought to be ordained, who, in the judgment of his own
bishop, is not useful or necessary for his churches, the holy Synod,
adhering to the traces of the sixth canon of the council of Chalcedon,
ordains, that no one shall for the future be ordained without being
attached to that church, or pious place, for the need, or utility of which
he is promoted; there to discharge his duties, and not wander about without
any certain abode. And if he shall quit that place without consulting the
bishop, he shall be interdicted from the exercise of his sacred (orders).
Furthermore, no cleric, who is a stranger, shall, without letters
commendatory from his own Ordinary, be admitted by any bishop to celebrate
the divine mysteries, and to administer the sacraments.

CHAPTER XVII.
In what manner the exercise of the minor orders is to be restored.

That the functions of holy orders, from the deacon to the janitor,-which
functions have been laudably received in the Church from the times of the
apostles, and which have been for some time interrupted in very many
places,-may be again brought into use in accordance with the sacred canons;
and that they may not be traduced by heretics as useless; the holy Synod,
burning with the desire of restoring the pristine usage, ordains that, for
the future, such functions shall not be exercised but by those who are
actually in the said orders; and It exhorts in the Lord all and each of the
prelates of the churches, and commands them, that it be their care to
restore the said [Page 187] functions, as far as it can be conveniently done, in the
cathedral, collegiate, and parochial churches of their dioceses, where the
number of the people and the revenues of the church can support it; and, to
those who exercise those functions, they shall assign salaries out of some
part of the revenues of any simple benefices, or those of the fabric of the
church,-if the funds allow of it,-or out of the revenues of both together,
of which stipends they may, if negligent, be mulcted in a part, or be
wholly deprived thereof, according to the judgment of the Ordinary. And if
there should not be unmarried clerics at hand to exercise the functions of
the four minor orders, their place may be supplied by married clerics of
approved life; provided they have not been twice married, be competent to
discharge the said duties, and wear the tonsure and the clerical dress in
church.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Method of establishing Seminaries for Clerics, and of educating the same
therein.

Wereas the age of youth, unless it be rightly trained, is prone to follow
after the pleasures of the world; and unless it be formed, from its tender
years, unto piety and religion, before habits of vice have taken possession
of the whole man, it never will perfectly, and without the greatest, and
well-nigh special, help of Almighty God, persevere in ecclesiastical
discipline; the holy Synod ordains, that all cathedral, metropolitan, and
other churches greater than these, shall be bound, each according to its
means and the extent of the diocese, to maintain, to educate religiously,
and to train in ecclesiastical discipline, a certain number of youths of
their city and diocese, or, if that number cannot be met with there, of
that province, in a college to be chosen by the bishop for this purpose
near the said churches, or in some other suitable place. Into this college
shall be received such as are at least twelve years old, born in [Page 188] lawful
wedlock, and who know how to read and write competently, and whose
character and inclination afford a hope that they will always serve in the
ecclesiastical ministry. And It wishes that the children of the poor be
principally selected; though It does not however exclude those of the more
wealthy, provided they be maintained at their own expense, and manifest a
desire of serving God and the Church. The bishop, having divided these
youths into as many classes as he shall think fit, according to their
number, age, and progress in ecclesiastical discipline, shall, when it
seems to him expedient, assign some of them to the ministry of the
churches, the others he shall keep in the college to be instructed; and
shall supply the place of those who have been withdrawn, by others; that so
this college may be a perpetual seminary of ministers of God. And that the
youths may be the more advantageously trained in the aforesaid
ecclesiastical discipline, they shall always at once wear the tonsure and
the clerical dress; they shall learn grammar, singing, ecclesiastical
computation, and the other liberal arts; they shall be instructed in sacred
Scripture; ecclesiastical works; the homilies of the saints; the manner of
administering the sacraments, especially those things which shall seem
adapted to enable them to hear confessions; and the forms of the rites and
ceremonies. The bishop shall take care that they be present every day at
the sacrifice of the mass, and that they confess their sins at least once a
month; and receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ as the judgment of
their confessor shall direct; and on festivals serve in the cathedral and
other churches of the place.

All which, and other things advantageous and needful for this object, all
bishops shall ordain-with the advice of two of the senior and most
experienced canons chosen by himself-as the Holy Spirit shall suggest; and
shall make it their care, by frequent visitations, that the same be always
observed. The froward, and incorrigible, and the disseminators of evil
morals, they shall punish sharply, even by expulsion if necessary; and,
removing all hindrances, they shall carefully foster whatsoever appears to
tend to preserve and advance so pious and holy an institution. And
forasmuch as some certain revenues will be [Page 189] necessary, for raising the
building of the college, for paying their salaries to the teachers and
servants, for the maintenance of the youths, and for other expenses;
besides those funds which are, in some churches and places, set apart for
training or maintaining youths, and which are to be hereby looked upon as
applied to this seminary under the said charge of the bishop; the bishops
as aforesaid, with the advice of two of the Chapter,--of whom one shall be
chosen by the bishop, and the other by the Chapter itself, and also of two
of the clergy of the city, the election of one of whom shall in like manner
be with the bishop, and of the other with the clergy,--shall take a certain
part or portion, out of the entire fruits of the episcopal revenue, and of
the chapter, and of all dignities whatsoever, personates, offices,
prebends, portions, abbies, and priories, of whatsoever order, even though
Regular, or of whatsoever quality, or condition they may be, and of
hospitals which are conferred under title or administration, pursuant to
the constitution of the Council of Vienne, which begins Quia contingit; and
of all benefices whatsoever, even those belonging to Regulars, even those
which are under any right of patronage, even those that are exempted, that
are of no diocese, or are annexed to other churches, monasteries,
hospitals, or to any other pious places, even such as are exempted; as also
of the revenues devoted to the fabrics of churches, and of other places,
and likewise of all other ecclesiastical revenues and proceeds whatsoever,
even those of other colleges;-in which, however, there are not actually
seminaries of scholars, or of teachers, for promoting the common good of
the Church; for the Synod wills that those places be exempted, except in
regard of such revenues as may remain over and above the suitable support
of the said seminaries;--or of bodies, or confraternities, which in some
places are called schools, likewise of all monasteries, with the exception
of the Mendicants; also of the tithes in any way belonging to laymen, out
of which ecclesiastical subsidies are wont to be paid; and those belonging
to the soldiers of any [Page 190] military body, or order, the brethren of Saint John
of Jerusalem alone excepted; and they shall apply to, and incorporate with,
the said college this portion so deducted, as also a certain number of
simple benefices, of whatsoever quality and dignity they may be, or even
prestimonies, or prestimonial portions as they are called, even before they
fall vacant, without prejudice however to the divine service, or to those
who hold them. And this shall have effect, even though the benefices be
reserved or appropriated to other uses; nor shall this union and
application of the said benefices be suspended, or in any way hindered, by
any resignation thereof, but shall still in any case have effect,
notwithstanding any way whatever in which they may be vacated, even be it
in the Roman court, and notwithstanding any constitution whatsoever to the
contrary.

The bishop of the place shall, by ecclesiastical censures, and other legal
means, even by calling in for this purpose, if he think fit, the help of
the Secular arm, compel the possessors of benefices, dignities, personates,
and of all and singular the above-named (revenues), to pay this portion not
merely on their own account, but also on account of whatsoever pensions
they may happen to have to pay to others, out of the said revenues,-keeping
back however a sum equivalent to that which they have to pay on account of
those pensions: notwithstanding as regards all and singular the
above-mentioned premises, any privileges, exemptions-even such as might
require a special derogation-any custom, even immemorial, or any appeal,
and allegation, which might hinder the execution hereof. But in case it
should happen that, by means of the said unions being carried into effect,
or from some other cause, the said seminary should be found to be wholly or
in part endowed, then shall the portion, deducted as above from all
benefices and incorporated by the bishop, be remitted, either wholly or in
part, as the actual circumstances shall require. But if the prelates of
cathedrals, and of the other greater churches, should be negligent in
erecting the said seminary, and in preserving the same, and refuse to pay
their share; it will be the duty of the archbishop sharply to reprove the
bishop, and to compel him to comply with all the matters aforesaid, and of
the provincial Synod to reprove and [Page 191] to compel in like manner the
archbishop, and sedulously to provide that this holy and pious work be as
soon as possible proceeded with, wherever it is possible. The bishop shall
annually receive the accounts of the revenues of the said seminary, in the
presence of two deputies from the Chapter, and of the same number deputed
from the clergy of the city.

Furthermore, in order that the teaching in schools of this nature may be
provided for at less expense, the holy Synod ordains, that bishops,
archbishops, primates, and other Ordinaries of places, shall constrain and
compel, even by the substraction of their fruits, those who possess any
dignities as professors of theology, and all others to whom is attached the
office of lecturing, or of teaching, to teach those who are to be educated
in the said schools, personally, if they be competent, otherwise by
competent substitutes to be chosen by themselves, and to be approved of by
the Ordinary. And if, in the judgment of the bishop, those chosen are not
fit, they shall noniminate another who is fit, without any appeal being
allowed; but should they neglect to do this, the bishop himself shall
depute one. And the aforesaid masters shall teach those things which the
bishop shall judge expedient. And, henceforth, those offices, or
dignities, which are called professorships of theology, shall not be
conferred on any but doctors, or masters, or licentiates in divinity, or
canon law, or on other competent persons, and such as can personally
discharge that office; and any provision made otherwise shall be null and
void: all privileges and customs whatsoever, even though immemorial,
notwithstanding.

But if the churches in any province labour under so great poverty, as that
a college cannot be established in certain (churches) thereof; the
provincial Synod, or the metropolitan, aided by the two oldest suffragans,
shall take care to establish one or more colleges, as shall be judged
expedient, in the metro-[Page 192]politan, or in some other more convenient church of
the province, out of the revenues of two or more churches, in which singly
a college cannot conveniently be established, and there shall the youths of
those churches be educated.

But in churches which have extensive dioceses, the bishop may have one or
more seminaries in the diocese, as to him shall seem expedient; which
seminaries shall however be entirely dependent in all things on the one
erected and established in the (episcopal) city.

Finally, if, either upon occasion of the said unions, or the taxation, or
assignment, and incorporation of the above-named portions, or from some
other cause, there should happen to arise any difficulty, by reason of
which the institution, or maintenance of the said seminary may be hindered
or disturbed, the bishop with the deputies as above, or the provincial
Synod according to the custom of the country, shall have power, regard
being had to the character of the churches and benefices, to regulate and
order all and singular the matters which shall seem necessary and expedient
for the happy advancement of the said seminary, even so as to modify or
enlarge, if need be, the contents hereof.

INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION.

Moreover, the same sacred and holy Synod of Trent indicts the next ensuing
Session for the sixteenth day of the month of September; in which it will
treat of the sacrament of Matrimony, and of such other matters, if there be
any, relative to the doctrine of faith as can be expedited, as also on
provisions for bishoprics, dignities, and other ecclesiastical benefices,
and divers articles of Reformation.